Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character in a series of suspense novels by Thomas Harris. He is a respected Baltimore forensic psychiatrist, as well as a cannibalistic serial killer. After he is caught and incarcerated for his crimes, he consults with the FBI to assist them in finding other serial killers. These Hannibal Lecter quotes will inspire you.
Best Hannibal Lecter Quotes
- “People don’t always say what they’re thinking… they just see to it that you don’t advance in life.”
- “I imagine your little brother must smell almost as bad as you do by now.”
- “Tell me, Clarice, would you ever say to me “Stop. If you loved me, you’d stop”?”
- “When the fox hears the rabbit scream, he comes a-running, but not to help.”
- “You see, the brain itself feels no pain if that concerns you, Clarice.”
- “Did you really feel depressed after you shot Mr. Garrett Jacob Hobbes to death? l think you probably did. But it wasn’t the act that got to you. Didn’t you feel so bad, because killing him felt so good? And why shouldn’t it feel good? lt must feel good to God. He does it all the time. God’s terrific! He dropped a church roof on 34 of his worshippers in Texas last Wednesday night, just as they were groveling through a hymn to his majesty. Don’t you think that felt good?”
- “lt feels good because God has power. lf one does what God does enough times, one will become as God is. God’s a champ. He always stays ahead. He got 140 Phillipinos in one plane crash last year. Remember that earthquake in Italy last spring?”
- “I came halfway around the world to watch you run, Clarice. Let me run, eh?”
- “Would they have you back, you think? The FBI? Those people you despise almost as much as they despise you. Would they give you a medal, Clarice, do you think? Would you have it professionally framed and hang it on your wall to look at and remind you of your courage and incorruptibility? All you would need for that, Clarice, is a mirror.”
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“You will not persuade me with appeals to my intellectual vanity.”
- “Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for her and find nourishment in the very sight of her? I think so. But would she see through the bars of his plight and ache for him?”
- “And be grateful. Our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real.”
- “Then here’s one… you stink of fear under that cheap lotion. You stink of fear Will, but you’re not a coward. You fear me, but still, you came here. You fear this shy boy, yet still, you seek him out. Don’t you understand, Will? You caught me because we’re very much alike. Without our imaginations, we’d be like all those other poor… dullards. Fear… is the price of our instrument. But I can help you bear it.”
- “A robin red-breast in a cage puts all of Heaven in a rage. Think to yourself that every day is your last. The hour to which you do not look forward will come as a welcome surprise. As for me, when you want a good laugh, you will find me in fine state… fat and sleek, a true hog of Epicurus’s herd.”
- “Remarkable boy. I do admire your courage. I think I’ll eat your heart.”
- “Shh. Don’t move. You’re in shock now. I don’t want you to feel any pain. In a moment, you’ll begin to feel light-headed, then drowsy. Don’t resist, it’s so gentle, like slipping into a warm bath. I regret it came to this, Will, but every game must have its ending.”
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“That’s the same atrocious aftershave you wore in court.”
- “I’ve been in this room for eight years now, Clarice. I know they will never ever let me out while I’m alive. What I want is a view. I want a window where I can see a tree or even water. I want to be in a federal institution, far away from Dr. Chilton.”
- “I would not have had that happen to you. Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me.”
- “Tell me, Will. Did you enjoy it? Your first murder? Of course, you did. And why shouldn’t it feel good? It does to God. Why only last week in Texas, he dropped a church roof on the heads of 34 of his worshipers, just as they were groveling for him. He wouldn’t begrudge you for one Journalist.”
- “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”
- “You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well-scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition has given you some length of bone, but you’re not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you’ve tried so desperately to shed? Pure West Virginia. What’s your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? You know how quickly the boys found you … all those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars … while you could only dream of getting out … getting anywhere … getting all the way to the FBI.”
- “All good things to those who wait.”
- “Nothing made me happen. I happened.”
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“You fly back to school now, little Starling. Fly, fly, fly. Fly, fly, fly.”
- “Look for severe childhood disturbances associated with violence. Our Billy wasn’t born a criminal, Clarice. He was made one through years of systematic abuse. Billy hates his own identity, you see, and he thinks that makes him a transsexual. But his pathology is a thousand times more savage and more terrifying.”
- “Quid pro quo Clarice I tell you things you tell me things. Not about this case of course but about yourself. Quid pro quo. Yes or no Clarice.”
- “Love and death are the two great hinges on which all human sympathies turn.” , Hannibal Lecter quotes about love
- “Do you believe you could change me the way I’ve changed you?”
- “Be blind, Alana. Don’t be brave.”
- “Psychic driving fails because it’s methods are too obvious. You were trying too hard Frederick. If force is used, the subject will only surrender temporarily. Once a patient is exposed to the method of manipulation; it becomes much less effective.”
- “I didn’t poison your dinner. I wouldn’t do that to food.”
- “When it comes to how far he’s willing to push you to get what he wants, he’s certainly no saint.”
- “God is beyond measure in wanton malice, and matchless in his irony.”
- “Words are living things. They have personality, point of view, agenda.”
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“Before we begin, I must warn you… nothing here is vegetarian.”
- “First and worst sign of sociopathic behavior, cruelty to animals.”
- “Well, Clarice – have the lambs stopped screaming?”
- “On a similar note I must confess to you, I’m giving very serious thought… to eating your wife.”
